Another great read from this author! It was spooky, dark but real all in the same bundle. As much as I preferred the other ones I have enjoyed the freshness of the set up and the limited settings of the train with touch of tragedy. As always can't wait what else she will bring our way!

Eerie and creepy, I felt constantly on edge waiting for something or someone to jump out!
It was well written, it made me feel as creeped out as the main character. Loved the character development and the setting was different and interesting.
Great overall story, really enjoyed it.

This was my first novel by Goldsmith but it won’t be my last. I was intrigued by nature gothic horror (as I always am) and I was not disappointed. I adored this book from the first page. It keeps you engaged and hooked. I was overjoyed to find a protagonist in Lara Williams who was likable and sensible as well. The plot is brilliantly paced and I loved the claustrophobic (at least for me) setting of the train.
A wonderful, creeping and atmospheric read that you will not be able to put down once you’ve picked it up. The perfect read for an autumn evening.

3.75
This was another fantastic horror from Amy!! I loved it so much, especially the last 3rd of the book when the horror really shone, it was so much fun to read! I think i prefer when the horror is the main character but that being said i did like how Lara’s experiences fed into the horror though it could’ve been explained a little better if they started to believe the supernatural a little earlier. A fun read, though a little weak at times!

Botanical horror is having a moment - and I'm so here for it! In Predatory Natures, Amy Goldsmith has blown it out of the park by adding a new, claustrophobic twist: confining hungry, mysterious plants within the narrow confines of a speeding luxury train.
The book is a sumptuous blend of folklore, botanical & body horror, mystery and trauma, served with a smattering of sweet romantic tension. Split over dual timelines, one exploring a suffocating relationship and the other dealing with the creeping dread growing between the narrow train carriages, the book is a strong blend of tough emotions and eerie horror.

Amy is a cinematic wordsmith who had me entrapped from page one with vivid descriptions and the mysterious atmosphere. Can't wait to check out her backlog, and see what she writes next!
Would eagerly recommend to fans of Sarah Marie Griffin's Eat The Ones You Love - but honestly perfect for anyone with the taste for some plant-based horror.

Thank you Bonnier Books for this ARC <3

This was absolutely eerie! I read this so quickly and seriously could not put it down. It was so creepy and horrifying yet such a good coming of age story. I really enjoyed every second of this, the atmosphere was incredible and this is seriously the perfect Autumn horror read.

Thank you Bonnier Books UK & Netgalley for this ARC.

Predatory Natures was a fun read. It’s the kind of book you want to tear through, yet also savour every unsettling detail. For the first 50–60% I was hooked. The dual timeline kept me on the edge of my seat, clicking through so fast like I was on the train myself. But the last 10% lost me. The ending felt anticlimactic—not bad, just a little flat compared to what came before.

It read like dark academia meets Little Shop of Horrors set mostly on a train. I loved the way the plant life crept in, quietly at first, then steadily becoming impossible to ignore. The slow burn worked for me, especially with the relationships: Lara and Rhys, Lara and Gwydion, Rhys and Gwen. Those tangled connections, complete with missed signals and unspoken truths, felt authentic because growing up is all about learning how to listen.

Lara was a stand out character from the start. She’s determined to travel on her own terms and reclaim a part of herself she felt was lost. The gore and body horror gave the story an extra edge—nothing hidden behind closed doors, just full, visceral horror. I thought it was brilliant. And the weaving of Welsh folklore was wonderful. I’d happily read more stories from that world.

3.75 stars from me. Memorable, atmospheric, gorgeously weird, even if the ending didn’t quite leaves its roots deep within my mind.

Predatory Natures hooked me right away with its set-up: five staff members, thirteen guests, and a luxury sleeper train that's impossible to escape.

Add in a touch of botanical horror and a dual timeline that hints at past secrets, and you have a premise that's hard to resist!

The train setting is definitely one of the book’s strongest elements. The narrow carriages create a constant sense of confinement, and the contrast between luxury and danger works well to heighten the tension. The folklore elements and plant horror imagery were equally well done and added a creepy vibe to the story.

The dual timeline kept me turning pages. I was curious about the past, about what Lara (our protagonist) was running from, and how everything would tie into the present. While some of the reveals were predictable and the dialogue occasionally felt a little forced, the pacing and atmosphere carried the story forward.

This definitely has a YA feel, with young characters, high stakes, and enough romance to add a softer note to the tension. (This one is for fans of second chance and slowburn friends-to-lovers) While the mystery itself isn’t especially complex and there were moments where I had to suspend disbelief, the overall reading experience was engaging and fun.

If you enjoy claustrophobic settings, locked-room mysteries, and botanical horror, I recommend checking this one out!

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC.

I think this book had a lot of potential: enclosed setting (no chance for escape), limited character number (easier to get to know them) and mysterious threat (who knew that plants can be dangerous?). Unfortunatly 'Predatory Natures' missed the mark for me: the characters were very one sided and the plot had an uneven pacing. And while I am thankfull that the author chose to show how easy is it to get trapped in a bad relationship, I really disliked the MC Lara.

This was phenomenal. If you're into creeping dread, vine choked secrets, and a healthy dose of feminine rage, this is the book you need.

We meet Lara, haunted, fractured, and desperate for escape. She signs on as temporary staff aboard The Banebury, an opulent, exclusive train slicing across Europe. Ten guests. Minimal crew. Two weeks of calm before the real passengers and staff are picked up at the final stop. Easy money. A temporary reprieve. Maybe even a chance to put herself back together.

But the past isn’t done with her, not with Rhys, a boy who knows exactly what she’s running from, boarding the train too.

Then there are the siblings. Eerie. Too beautiful. Occupying three entire train cars, sealed off from the rest of the staff due to organic matter. The crew is strictly forbidden from entering. But curiosity... well, we know what it does.

What begins as unease soon twists into full blown horror as the train becomes a hothouse of secrets and control. Something is growing aboard The Banebury, lush, invasive, and impossible to ignore. It wraps around everything, just like the tension building with each mile.

The atmosphere is thick and vivid, polished brass and overgrown greenery, velvet upholstery and tendrils creeping through cracks. It’s elegant. Beautiful. And utterly inescapable.

Absolutely brilliant. Creepy, visceral, and deeply satisfying in its unflinching exploration of trauma, transformation, and fury. I devoured this and will be thinking about it every time I see ivy clinging to a wall.

Predatory Natures slithers under your skin in a YA horror-mystery that keeps you racing through the pages.

Goldsmith consistently delivers great YA speculative mysteries that I have thoroughly enjoyed and this is no exception. It builds on a wonderful premise to deliver an eco-horror, locked room style mystery that escalates in tension and delivers a powerful story. The isolated setting of the luxury sleeper train instantly brings certain classics to mind and there is evident love of the genre throughout. It is that sharp contrast between the gilded luxury and the sinister happenings that really entices you. You are so intrigued by the beauty that you don’t see the cage snapping shut around you. The mystery is wonderful, tapping into some mythology and other classic references that readers will delight in. Goldsmith has such a knack for creating tense atmospheres that pull you into their embrace and refuse to let go. You can feel that crushing isolation of these characters and hear the strange noises of the night.

Lara has seized this opportunity to run away from everything she knows – losing herself in a new adventure. Goldsmith teases you with exactly what she might be running from with a dual timeline of the past. It adds suspense and complicates relationships for Lara in the present day. She is a smart and loving person who has had difficulties in life and may just be hiding some dark secrets. As a reader, you root for her but you may not entirely trust her. As she gets pulled into the nightmare unfolding, Goldsmith crafts a phenomenal character arc that imparts an important message with the readers. The way horror is used as a tool to talk about certain issues is fantastic and aligns with previous work from this author. It is impactful and necessary.

Predatory Natures is a fantastically imagined and executed YA horror-mystery.

Predatory Natures doesn’t just question survival: it interrogates complicity. What do we become when we ignore the warnings written in blood-red sunsets and poisoned tide pools?

I've never read anything like this before. Deadly plants on a fast moving 5 star train.... sign me up! I enjoyed the main character and found the flashbacks to her past heartbreaking. I hightly recommend this mix of fantasy, horror and suspense. Thank you for the E-ARC.

I have read previous books by this author and really enjoyed them! I feel like the writing style is very unique and you definitely can't see the twist and turns that are going to happen. I appreciated that Rhys and Lara had their own story in between the full storyline, as I found that really helped give the background to their storyline
I really enjoyed this overall as it wasn't my typical read

This was an easy book to like. I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

We have some great botanical horror here on an impossible to escape train setting. The confined, trapped feeling of the narrow train carriages worked so well for creating tension and suspense.

There were a few points in the narrative where things didn’t quite seem to add up and this was a little jarring. However this didn’t detract from what was a great reading experience. The characters are quite young so this does have a YA feel and there were points where I had to suspend my disbelief. But the skilful build up of suspense and menace more than made up for this.

There’s two areas this book did exceptionally well. One was the botanical and folkloric horror which I absolutely loved. It was so creepy yet beautiful and evoked gorgeously throughout the book. I really loved the juxtaposition of nature and science in this too. The second was the use of the train as a setting. It was so integral to the story and it massively enhanced the terror in the book. This is told from the perspective of the staff rather than the passengers so we had a different lens on this luxury journey across Europe.

As a fan of gothic, horror and mystery novels I found this thoroughly enjoyable!